The NS government calls for an investigation into another Cape Breton employment agency

The Nova Scotia government has called for an investigation into financial problems at another Cape Breton employment agency.

Last month, Nova Scotia’s auditor general reported mismanagement at the former Island Employment Association, which helped people find jobs.

Now the Department of Labor says it has commissioned a third-party assessment from the Cape Breton Injured Workers’ Association, which helps people with workers’ compensation claims.

Eileen MacNeil, a former employee of the association, quit last fall, saying she was not getting along with the president and the board was not holding regular meetings or an annual general meeting.

The association also failed to file financial reports with the county, MacNeil said.

“For me, there was no organization in the organization.”

No comment from the president of the association

MacNeil said she tried to raise the alarm internally, but nothing happened.

“I’ve approached the president many times and said, ‘You know, if this doesn’t happen, it’s going to come back to you, because as president it’s your responsibility to make sure things get done right.’ And he just blamed the accountant.”

George Abraham, president of the Cape Breton Injured Workers’ Association, declined to comment.

Merrill Carmichael is listed on the Registry of Joint Stocks as treasurer.

According to the Chartered Professional Accountants of Nova Scotiahis practice was audited from 2019 to 2021 due to client complaints and in 2021 he was stripped of his credentials and forced to deregister from his accounting firm due to persistent allegations of professional misconduct.

Carmichael did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Protecting the interests of injured employees’

MacNeil, who was a lawyer and did some office clerical work, said the association was forced to hold an election for new board members last year and did not support Abraham for president.

After that, it became difficult to work with Abraham, she said.

“At one point he said to me, ‘You’re just a lawyer here. I go to all the meetings. You’re just a lawyer and nothing else and don’t even arrange anything in the office without asking me first.'” MacNeil said “So it was a very stressful situation.”

In an email, the Department of Labor said funding for the association ended in April 2022 and an external review of compliance with the funding agreement, finances, governance and mandate is underway.

“Our primary interest in the CBIWA assessment is to protect the interests of injured employees,” the department said.

Meanwhile, it said injured workers have access to the province Employee Advisor Programwhich covers all of the county except Pictou County, which has the county’s only other association of injured workers.

‘This service is so badly needed’

The Pictou and Cape Breton associations received $108,000 a year for their services.

In 2017, the Pictou County association called on the government to improve the workers’ compensation system, in part because of the workload.

MacNeil said she handled more than 600 cases for the Cape Breton Association last year, though not all of them were active cases.

“This service is so much needed,” she said.

The department said the provincial program recorded 206 active files in the four provinces on Cape Breton Island over the past year since the Cape Breton Association was disbanded.

According to the latest annual report for 2021-2022, the Workers’ Advisers Program recorded 1,058 active files in the province as of March 31, 2022, which was a three percent decrease from the previous year.